Ichihara was supposed to be one of the favorites, and he looks bummed that he drew Gracie in the first round. Still, in his pre-match interview, he resolutely states, “I would like to fight this dangerous man.”

His wish is granted as Gracie smothers him and starts nailing him with punches to the ribs and palm strikes to the face. The announcers talk about how Gracie wants to win via choke, but it’s not happening.

Realizing that he has to fight three more times, Gracie switches to a lapel choke and gets the tap out.

Now the crowd is enjoying an intermission as we learn about the different fighting styles we will see tonight: Karate, Kickboxing, Kung Fu, Grappling and “Exotics” (secret ninja attack!).

We also get highlights from a couple of first-round bouts. Johnny Rhodes out-slugged fellow American David Levicki with the help of a headbutt to the eye. Orlando Wiet of France nailed Robin Lucarelli with a devastating knee to the face en route to a TKO win.

Wiet went less than three minutes in his win over Lucarelli, while Pardoel battled Alberto Cerro Leon of Spain for almost 10 minutes before putting him away with an armlock.

Pardoel’s strategy consists of plopping his weight onto Wiet and trying to bend his right arm until it breaks. This goes nowhere until Remco realizes that from this position, he can elbow Weit into La-La Land. The towel comes in, but Weit was out anyway.

Jason DeLucia won an alternate bout at UFC 1 over Trent Jenkins and upped his record to 2-0 with a first-round win over Scott Baker by submission to strikes in less than seven minutes.

DeLucia actually gains top position on Gracie, but Royce calmly pulls guard, floats over and secures an armlock. DeLucia is actually standing up while he taps out.

6. First Semifinal: Pat Smith (kickboxing) vs. Johnny Rhodes (Karate)

Jim Brown says Smith is going to win. He’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer, so who am I to argue? After a boxing stalemate, Smith backs Rhodes into the cage, then locks on a guillotine and chokes him out.

Gracie is giving up 84 pounds, so it takes a long time to bring Pardoel down, but he finally does. Pardoel tries for a kimura, but Gracie uses the gi to choke the big man out. Remember: there are no rules!

It’s the fourth fight of the night for each man. The fans are chanting for Smith. Now before this fight starts, what should Smith do to solve the Royce Gracie riddle?

I'd say that since Gracie has proven that he can take almost anyone down, Smith should go full guns a-blazin’ with punches and kicks. Make Gracie beat him with punches.

Well, that’s what happens. After stuffing Smith’s initial attack and taking him down, Gracie takes the mount, lands a few punches and here comes the towel. Huh?

At first, the corner stoppage seems premature, but on replay, you could see that Gracie had a mount locked in and was just going to punch Smith in the head all night long. So the towel toss was the right move.

Gracie and Smith give each other hugs and respect, as the Gracie family comes into the Octagon to celebrate. The big check (which was made out to “The Ultimate Fighter!” at UFC 1), is filled in with Royce Gracie’s name. This will avoid an awkward moment at the bank.

Gracie calls out some more tough men to challenge him.

Fun show, and the question moving on at this point is: Can any fighter stop Royce Gracie?